Many electronic systems operate in applications in which circuit malfunctions can cause property damage and human casualties. Accordingly, it can be important for such systems to operate reliably and to perform diagnostic operations that regularly monitor performance of such system to confirm that reliable operation is being maintained. A battery monitor is an example of one such electronic system. A battery monitor is an electrical circuit that measures voltages across the individual cells and reports voltage levels to a processing system. The battery monitor can monitor and confirm reliable operation of the battery cells.
System designers also have a need to confirm that the battery monitor itself is operating reliably, to ensure that the data reported by the battery monitor has been gathered and reported properly. If some failure occurred in the battery monitor itself, such that spurious voltage measurements are reported to the processor, the failure may induce a failure in the battery system itself as the processor implements corrective action in response to the spurious data.